Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 14 My Money!
Zhu Youjian calmed down and changed the subject: "So, how is the income from the imperial treasury now?"

Si Zhili still looked bewildered and could only look to Wang Tiqian for help.

Wang Tiqian spoke again, this time with a hint of barely perceptible caution in his voice:

"Your Majesty, the main sources of revenue from the imperial treasury are the silver from the imperial estates and the silver from the gold flower. Other items, such as mining taxes and misappropriation of funds from the outer treasury, have been discontinued since the end of the Wanli era."

Zhu Youjian's heart skipped a beat: Imperial estate?

Upon hearing this word, he already had some ideas in mind.

So, besides being the supreme emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he might also be a large landowner? That would give him plenty of options.

“Yes. There are a total of 17,000 hectares of imperial estates in the vicinity of the capital. There is also 10,000 hectares of estates belonging to Prince Xingxian in Huguang,” Wang Tiqian replied.

“Since the reign of Emperor Zhengde, a rule has been established that only three fen of silver per mu (unit of land area) is collected. This money is used exclusively for the expenses of the two palaces and the crown prince, and about 49,000 taels are deposited into the treasury each year.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian raised an eyebrow.

He turned to look at Zhou Yu, who indeed looked completely bewildered.

Clearly, this future empress had no idea that she owned such a large amount of property.

Zhu Youjian chuckled inwardly, thinking to himself, "You probably only have half of this money; the other half is with Zhang Yan."

He was figuring out how to get the money out of him when he sensed something was wrong.

He picked up the paper and pen on the table, drew a simple multiplication problem on the paper, and began to work out the calculations silently.

Twenty-seven thousand hectares, one hectare is one hundred mu, that's 270 million mu.

The yield is three cents per mu, which is 0.03 taels.

270 million, multiplied by 0.03...

Zhu Youjian paused, and a clear number appeared on the paper: 81000.

He raised his head, his gaze sharp as lightning, and stared directly at Wang Tiqian:
"With 27,000 hectares of land, at three cents per hectare, that should amount to 81,000 taels. Why is there only 49,000 taels in the account?"

Wang Tiqian was puzzled as he looked at the strange, unseen scribbles written by Zhu Youjian.

When the emperor asked him this question, he was so frightened that he fell to his knees with a thud, his forehead hitting the cold gold bricks hard.

“This old servant…this old servant deserves to die! The problems with the imperial estate have been long-standing, with embezzlement, misappropriation, and disordered accounts…over time, this…this amount has become a customary practice.”

Zhu Youjian was so angry that he couldn't speak.

He finally understood the boundless rage contained in the roar of the Jiajing Emperor in "Ming Dynasty 1566".

My money!
Three cents per mu was already an incredibly low tax rate.

Those managers of the imperial estates would certainly take this opportunity to further exploit the tenants, and would never honestly accept only three cents of silver.

And now, they won't even give me these three cents of silver properly!

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He started writing out calculations on paper again.

He already had a bad feeling.

Based on the current common practice of paying 50% of the land rent, 2.7 million mu of land would be calculated at an average of 1 shi per mu per year.

So these imperial estate managers should be able to extract more than 130 million shi of rent every year.

Based on the current grain price of 0.5 taels per shi in the capital region, that would amount to 65 taels of silver!

This doesn't even include the common two-year, three-crop intercropping system in the north, where beans are planted in summer and wheat in autumn!
Zhu Youjian instinctively clutched his chest, the pain making it hard to breathe.

You take 65 of my money, and then give me 5?
This is even worse than what was done to Jiajing back then; it's not even a fraction of what was done to him!

65 divided by 10 still equals 6.5!

He waved his hand weakly, his voice trembling slightly: "Never mind... what about Jin Huayin?"

Seeing that the emperor was no longer pursuing the matter of the imperial estates, Wang Tiqian breathed a slight sigh of relief, but still dared not rise, and answered tremblingly:

"Golden flowers and silver... are still considered normal."

Wang Tiqian's mind raced, and suddenly, steeling himself, he continued:
"However, apart from a few provinces such as Fujian and Guangdong, all other provinces have outstanding debts. Since the first year of the Tianqi reign, the accumulated arrears have reached 1.2 million taels."

Which provinces owe the most?

“Southern Zhili, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces… there are quite a few.” Wang Tiqian’s voice lowered again.

Zhu Youjian pinched the bridge of his nose, already understanding the problem.

These three provinces were the heart of the Ming Dynasty's cultural heritage, boasting the largest number of candidates for the imperial examinations, with a flood of successful candidates crossing the river.

Behind this lies not only the so-called interests of landlords, the civil service, and the Donglin Party strife.

In more Ming Dynasty terms, it was called "resisting surrender".

The term "contribution" here does not refer to landlords accepting land from self-cultivating farmers to evade taxes.

Instead, it specifically refers to being close to the emperor, serving as his lackey, and handing over money to the emperor's private treasury.

Such behavior was considered extremely immoral by scholars with some aspirations.

The tax system of the Ming Dynasty was already chaotic. The Imperial Treasury, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of War each had their own responsibilities and the power to levy taxes on local areas.

Faced with this cumbersome and tangled tax system, local officials naturally have their own preferences.

There are nuances to consider when determining which taxes are mandatory, which are unavoidable, and which should ideally be avoided.

The Liaodong levy, also known as the new levy, was the most important because it was included in the performance evaluation and was closely related to one's official position.

The stipend for members of the imperial family was set at one million during the Tianqi era, but the emperor and the civil officials didn't care, so they delayed it as much as possible, and avoided paying it altogether.

As for the gold and silver? Money for the emperor's private expenses? Of course, it can be owed as much as possible! Zhu Youjian's heart stirred, and he suddenly looked forward to the court session the day after tomorrow.

The Ming Dynasty court is truly fascinating; it not only treats external sores but also regulates internal toxins.

The so-called external sores refer to official corruption, which is something I've talked about countless times.

The internal poison, on the other hand, stemmed from the deep-seated distrust of the emperor and the royal family that was ingrained in the entire Confucian civil service system.

But... it doesn't seem like we can blame them, does it?

The eight words "The law is not enforced because those in power violate it" came to mind for Zhu Youjian.

Admittedly, the scholar-official class had its own selfishness and arrogance, but conversely, their idea of ​​"resisting tribute" was not unfounded.
The original owner's grandfather, the Wanli Emperor, sent out mining supervisors and tax commissioners, causing unrest throughout the land.

He then went on a rampage, plundering nearly 40 million taels of silver from the Taicang treasury and depositing it into the imperial treasury.

Faced with the increasingly critical situation in Liaodong, he was so stingy that he was only willing to give out a mere 50 taels of silver, making various excuses that the imperial treasury had no money.

As a result, when his son and grandson took the throne, they distributed 20 million in just two years, making Wanli appear as a miser in comparison.

The national treasury became his private property, and the world became his personal domain.

Furthermore, while those who were enfeoffed as kings in various regions were certainly anxious about not being able to collect their stipends from the royal family, they weren't in a huge hurry.

why?
Each of them enclosed and annexed land within their own fiefdoms, set up checkpoints to collect taxes, and even secretly sold smuggled salt, competing with the state for profits by any means necessary.

The entire Ming imperial family, from the emperor to the princes, were like a pack of greedy rats, frantically gnawing at the foundations of the Ming Dynasty, showing no regard for the country whatsoever.

If your Zhu family, the imperial clan, doesn't even care about this country, then why should you expect all the civil and military officials in the country to be honest and loyal to you?

It was against this backdrop that the idea of ​​"resisting donations" spread like a plague among scholars.

In any case, the gold and silver collected only filled the emperor's private coffers.

It would be better not to accept it at all. Instead, we could intercept it and either invest it in local areas or... put it into our own pockets. Maybe if we could smooth things over, I could get promoted.

Once I am promoted, I will certainly speak up for the people and bring blessings to all!

This kind of thinking is undoubtedly distorted and morbid, but it has become an unspoken rule throughout the entire bureaucratic system.

Zhu Youjian smiled and said, "Then let's go. Two days later, it will be the third, sixth, and ninth day of the regular court sessions."

Let me see which of all the crows in the world is the blackest!
The atmosphere in the hall was extremely heavy as Zhu Youjian remained silent for so long.

Wang Tiqian and Si Zhili knelt on the ground, even their breathing was very careful.

Even Zhou Yu felt the oppressive atmosphere. She looked at Zhu Youjian with concern, but dared not speak.

Chief Prosecutor Zhu You let out a long breath and asked his last question.

"So, what about the annual expenditures of the imperial treasury?"

Okay, I accept the low income. After deducting debts, I can still earn about 750,000 taels a year.

Next, let's see how much we can save in a year.

Wang Tiqian took a deep breath; he no longer dared to underestimate this new emperor who was only seventeen years old.

"Your Majesty, the imperial treasury is mainly used for the salaries of eunuchs, palace maids, military officials and nobles in the capital, as well as for various fixed expenses such as hiring merchants and purchasing agents, totaling about 500,000 taels per year."

"In addition, there are various unspecified expenses such as military merit rewards, ceremonial honors for princes, empresses, and princesses."

Zhu Youjian fell silent again.

He's been silent far too many times tonight.

Annual fixed expenses of 500,000 taels...

An ordinary soldier in Qi Jiguang's army received a salary of eighteen taels of silver per year.

If we save 180,000 taels from here, it will be enough to cover the annual salary of a 10,000-strong Qi Family Army in the vicinity of the capital!
This debt must be settled! This household must be managed!
He is hesitant to fully commit to opening up new avenues and cutting costs, so he doesn't dare to act freely in the outer court for the time being.

Because of corrupt governance, any good policy can turn into a bad one.

But this system of eunuchs can be started as soon as possible.

Zhu Youjian felt relieved. Now that he had a clear plan, all that was left was to see how to execute it.

In the end, it's nothing more than the same old methods of rewarding and punishing, establishing systems, highlighting exemplary cases, and setting rules, without even requiring any groundbreaking modern knowledge.

He looked up and waved his hand, signaling Si Zhili to step back first.

Then, he turned his gaze back to Wang Tiqian, who was still kneeling on the ground, and asked in a gentle tone.

"Tigan, get up."

What is your view on the current state of the Ming Dynasty?

　[Historical Materials in this Chapter]

　　1. The claim that the imperial estate covered 2.7 hectares is not entirely accurate; it is based on deductions by historical experts.

　　At its peak during the Zhengde period, the area reached 7.6 hectares. Then, the Liu Liu and Liu Qi peasant uprising broke out in Beizhili.

　　During the Jiajing era, Xia Yan was ordered to investigate the imperial estates and submitted a memorial entitled "Investigation and Report on Imperial Estates," requesting that approximately 3.75 hectares be reclaimed.

　　By the Chongzhen era, experts estimated the area to be 2.7 hectares. I believe them!
　　2. It is said that the imperial estates were abolished in terms of actual management, similar to the fiefdoms of princes. They only collected taxes but did not actually manage the estates; that is, local officials would collect taxes and allocate a portion to the emperor. For example, the 20,000 qing (a unit of area) granted to the Prince of Fu by Emperor Wanli was such an example. Although it was said to be 20,000 qing, it was actually only allocated 46000 taels of silver, not truly given to the emperor.

　　3. However, some say that the imperial estates were still under actual control. For example, during the Jiajing era, officials reported that they hoped to "distribute the imperial estates to the people," but Jiajing "did not report it"—meaning he ignored it.

　　4. In the end, I decided to accept the historical material from the actual records, not because it was more credible, but mainly because I wanted to write about imperial estates, which should be very interesting. I don't recall seeing any Ming Dynasty time-travel novels that have written about it.

　　5. Finally, regarding land rent, it ranges from 40% to 60%, generally putting farmers on the verge of death. This percentage remained the same from the Ming Dynasty to before the liberation.

　　6. I'm running out of words, so I won't list the rest of the information, such as the gold and silver debts and the civil officials' "resistance to surrender," etc. They are all true, and I will explain if I made them up.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)